Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
I've been very much looking forward to this day for quite some time. I'm going to try my best not to cry.
I want to thank everyone—Chief Cote, Senator McCallum, Madame Wapistan, Chris Kulak and your amazing family, and our other witness whom we hope to hear from as well.
It really is about unity, and that's what I'm feeling and that's what I'm seeing. This is such a concrete demonstration to bring us together, to bring our country together, to bring cultures together. It's nice to have some positive things to celebrate as well.
Chris, maybe I'll start with you. I can't wait to get our families together, to meet your seven beautiful daughters as well, and your wonderful wife. That's what this is about—it's bridging and making those connections. I'm also a non-indigenous person raising two indigenous sons, so it's really important and it speaks to this work of reconciliation and being brought in and respecting these teachings and finding yourself there as well.
You made a comment about making the nation take note, and I really feel that's what this does. It's one thing to have this incredible dialogue that's so critical for reconciliation, but to put it into something like legislation, to have a national day to recognize the triumph of an indigenous child who took an incident and turned it into something so positive, I think it can teach all of us some really powerful lessons.
I would like to ask you, Mr. Kulak, why you call her “Bella the Brave”. Perhaps you could share that and a little bit about how she feels about what's happening right now in her honour.